Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have an 8 foot female albino green Burm who seems to urinate far too frequently. She has urinated heavily the last five days in a row. Very little solid urates, but alot of liquid. She does drink alot of water, which is the cause of the heavy urination, but is it normal for a Burm to drink that much water to cause so much urinating? She soaks half of her cage everyday. I had to buy two Sunday papers today just to keep up! I have two larger Burms and they are perfectly normal. So is this something I should worry about, like some hidden problem causing her to drink more? Should I limit her access to water to every other day or something? Thanks for any advice!

Hi!
There are several things that can cause frequent drinking & urinating. Knowing the history of the snake can help narrow down the list.

* Low humidity - This also can be associated with temperatures that are too high, basically drying out the snake. Double-check temperature & humidity levels.

I believe that snakes that have been kept without a constant supply of drinking water and/or humdity levels that are too low, over extended periods of time, can develop irreversible kidney damage and frequent unrinating becomes constant, permanent.

* Dried out F/T prey - I believe snakes that are fed F/T prey items that have lost most water content will consume more water to aid digestion. Dried out F/T prey in a snake's stomach and/or intestinal tract will draw water from the snake's body and the snake needs to replace that water.

Open-top cages, like screened lids on aquariums, are one of the leasing causes of dehydration. If you're not sure of what steps you need to take to try to correct the problem just let us know what type of cage setup you have, temperature & humidity levels, etc...

Whatever you do, always keep plenty of drinking water available at all times. Definitely don't limit a snake's access to water, ever. Our captives know what they need better than we do. And they'll tell us, if we'll just listen by observing & interpreting their behavior.

Have a good one!
HH
-----
Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

www.natures-signature.com

Thanks for the reply! I bought her at one month of age from a reputable breeder and she's only ever had frozen/thawed, and she's always had a good sized water dish with water available at all times. She's on 2 1/2 to 3 pound f/t rabbits. She's in a cage I built with Flexwatt heat tape on a thermostat set at 90 degrees. The only thing with temp is my reptile room has been reaching an ambient temperature in the mid 80's during the day because of the extreme Texas heat. No health problems ever. I have over 100 snakes, I've just never noticed this amount of urinating. I saw her chugging water again today so I'm sure I'll be cleaning out her cage tomorrow for the sixth day in a row!

Her history and caging conditions seem to be good but you didn't say what the humidity level is. Get a good hygrometer so you'll know for sure. Acu-Rite make a fairly good indoor/outdoor thermometer w/hygrometer found at Walmart for about $13.

Get the humidity between 60 - 80% and see if it helps.

Did she eat within a day or two of starting the frequent drinking/urinating? If so, maybe the batch of rabbits has lost a lot of moisture.

I wouldn't exactly panic right now but I would be concerned & try hard to find a cause. If it keeps up for a week or so I'd take her to a good herp vet to see if thre's an infection that could be treated. A urine sample would be good to take along with you.

Does she seem to be fine other than the urinating? No other symptoms or peculiar habits?

Hang in there!
HH
-----
Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

www.natures-signature.com

Thanks, I'll keep an eye on her. I've had Burms for years and there's nothing unusual about her other than this. Everything else seems perfect. I'll have to check the humidity in her cage, but in the room it is right at 50%. She normally sheds well, but she did have problems with last one, so you may be right about the humidity. All that constant cleaning and drying her cage may have the humidity slightly low. I've noticed the frequent urinating for two or three weeks. And she went again earlier tonight, making it six times in five days, plus this one had a nice smelly bonus with it!

My 11yo Burm has this problem. We're going to the vet next week. He has always had this problem and I'm quite certain it was from chronic dehydration resulting from a screen top aquarium for 7 years before he came to me. He drinks TONS of water and soaks the paper 3 times a week easy. It's worse after he eats. His appetite is going down a bit, so I want to get him checked out before his imaginary breeding season hits.